


Once Upon a Miracle

by sanxalta99



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: F/M, Jake Peralta is an older brother, Jake is a Dad, Original Character Death(s), Secrets, school fire
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:40:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25697440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanxalta99/pseuds/sanxalta99
Summary: To everyone in his life, Detective Jake Peralta was a childish adult who could barely look after himself. Unable to complete the paperwork on cases, never-ending pile on crumbs built up on his desk and he can’t even remember the last time he had been to the dentist. It isn’t until the squad gets a straightforward arson case that they learn that Jake Peralta isn’t the childish man they know.*AU where Jake Peralta is 28 in present time*
Relationships: Gina Linetti & Jake Peralta, Jake Peralta & Amy Santiago, Jake Peralta & Everyone, Jake Peralta & Karen Peralta, Jake Peralta & Roger Peralta, Jake Peralta/Amy Santiago, Jake Peralta/Original Character(s), Ray Holt & Jake Peralta
Comments: 46
Kudos: 193





	1. When the walls kept crashing down.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!
> 
> So this idea has been sitting in my brain for a while and I've just done the first three chapters, I'm not sure if it's any good and if I should continue writing it... let me know your thoughts and theories in the comments! ♡ 
> 
> Also, I absolutely love fanfics where Jake is a dad and none of the squad know, so I thought I'd give it a go!

Jake Peralta is known for his overly childish antics in the workplace, but his home life is very different.

When Jake was 8 years old his dad had left him and his mom. It was a tough time for the two of them, but Jake had quickly learnt how to look after and take care of his mom.

When he was 14 his dad had come back begging to be forgiven. Due to his mom’s big heart and caring soul, Karen let the dad who had let his family down again and again back into their lives.

Nine months later Jakes younger brother Ben came into the world. When Jake met Ben for the first time, he vowed to do everything in his power to make sure that Rodger wouldn’t abandon his second child.

It wasn’t long before Jake found out that that promise was something he couldn’t keep, it broke his heart when his father left for the second time, but it hurt even harder because he knew there was nothing he could do to keep his promise to his younger brother.

5 years after Rodger had left for the second time, he came back begging to be forgiven yet again. Jake talked to his mum numerous times telling her how he felt about his dad, but his mom loved Rodger too much and let her defences down one last time. Apparently, she let her defences down in more than one way when his father came back and soon Masie and Andrew were born (twins! I know!!). This time Jake knew that he couldn’t make any promises that had anything to do with Rodger so instead, he made a promise he knew he himself could keep.

Jake -being the oldest- got to see the twins first. The two tiny humans staring up at him had no idea what sort of life they would live, they had no idea that their biological dad would up and leave a week later but what Jake made sure they would always know is that he was their big brother, and he was never going anywhere.

4 months after the twins 2nd birthday Karen Peralta was rushed to the hospital after driving home after work and ending up in a tragic car accident. The twins were at home being looked after Gina’s mom, Ben was at school and Jake was at the precinct. No one in the 99 knew the extent of Jakes childhood and homelife except for his best friend Gina who had been there every step of the way. His friends knew that his dad walked out on him and his mum when he was eight, but they had no idea that he had three other siblings and a mother who was struggling to keep her family afloat. Jake had moved out a couple of years prior since the household had started to get crowded and he could afford to live on his own.

The 23rd of September 2013 is a day none of the Peralta children will ever forget.

The call at 11:34am is a call Jake Peralta will never forget.

The way his older brother looked at him at the doorway of his classroom is a look Ben Peralta will never forget.

The phone call at 11:44 from Gina is a phone call Darlene will never forget.

The 23rd of September 2013 is a day no one will ever forget.

Karen Peralta never made it out of the operating room.

The extent of her injuries was too bad for any repair to be done.

The hushed voices in the OR bowed their heads,

“Time of death… 11:53am”.

\------

Jake was a mess. His rock, his light, his favourite person in the entire world was no longer in the world.

Jake, Gina and Ben had arrived at the Brooklyn Hospital while Karen was still in the operating room. Jake paced back and forth while little Ben sat on the uncomfortable waiting room chairs wondering why everyone was so stressed out.

Gina had called her mom, who was still at the Peralta household and told her that Karen had been in terrible car crash and that they were on their way to the hospital now. Her mom said she would keep the twins at home since they were still asleep and to call her with updates.

When a nurse came through the doors of dread with a melancholy look on her face Jake broke down on the spot, he knew what she was going to say. Spending the past few years as a cop came with reading people and their emotions, Jake knew what that look meant.

Gina let Jake go, she knew there was no point trying to calm him down, it would only make things worse. Instead she crouched down in front of Ben and looked at him in the eyes.

“where’s mommy?” Is the first thing he asked.

“She’s... she’s gone sweetie.” Gina replied softly. She wasn’t one for emotions, but she knew that this was going to be the toughest thing the Perala’s were ever going to face.

“Gone where?” Ben asked confused, “did she go on a vacation?”

Gina unlocked her phone and held up a picture for Ben to look at.

“Yes, yes sweetie,” she replied. “She’s gone on a vacation here.” Gina points to her phone which is displaying a stock image of Heaven.

“When’s she coming back?”

Gina looked intently into Bens eyes. Holding onto his hand to ground him.

“She’s not. She’s found a beautiful new home up there.” Gina replies slowly.

“Mommy left us?” He said tears streaming down his face. “Did she leave? Did she leave like Dad?”

Gina looks at him softly.

“No honey, she loves you so so so very much. She didn’t want to leave you. And you know what.”

Ben looks at her confused.

“She hasn’t left,” she points at his heart. “Because she will always be in here.”

Ben looks down at where Gina’s hand is. “I love you mommy.”

And that’s when Gina Linetti started to cry.

\------

To no one’s surprise, when Rodger Peralta heard the news that Karen had tragically passed away, he fled. He ignored calls from people in Brooklyn until a letter arrived in the mail.

\------

Jake knew from the moment he got his head partially around the fact that his mom had passed away, he and his younger siblings no longer had a legal guardian. Yes, there was Rodger, but he had been avoiding anyone who called, and history showed that he was an unfit father who just managed to get women pregnant.

\-----

Jake sticked to his promise that he made to Masie and Andrew and called Gina to come over to their house.

“I want to go for custody of the kids.” He said as soon as she arrived.

“You what?” she asked looking at him in shock.

“Well Rodger obviously doesn’t care about them and I can’t let them go into foster care or something like that!”

“You do have a point there boo.” Gina said slowly taking a seat on the couch.

“So, should I?” he asked, wanting a second opinion. Pacing back and forth,

“You do know that you would become their dad?”

“Father figure,” he corrected her. “I’m not going to make them call me dad, if they want to, I mean sure, but Rodger is their dad, I’m just a male figure in their life.”

Gina just looked at him.

“It’s not like I really have a choice here Gina.” He pointed out, sitting down next to her.

“I’ll be here for you if you ever need anything.” She said smiling at him. “and I’m sure the nine-nine is too-”

“No!” He cut her off. “No one can know about this.”

“But Jake…”

“No, Gina. I’m serious, I don’t want them looking at me differently.”

She just looked at him.

He stared back.

“alright, fine. I won’t tell them, but you know they won’t do that Jake.”

“Gina”

“alright, alright, alright.” She said throwing her arms up in the arm and walked out of the house.

“where are you going?” he asked very confused.

“are you not trying to get custody of the munchkins?”

“yeah… I am…”

“so lets go!” She said grabbing his arm.

\--------

Rodger opened the letter to see a legal file addressed to him from his eldest son Jacob Peralta wishing for full custody of his younger siblings Ben Vic Peralta, Masie Lauren Peralta and Andrew Linwood Peralta.

Rodger sighed as the signed the papers. He knew that this was the right thing to do.

\-------


	2. Everything is a blur

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is set in the present time:  
> Jake is 28  
> Amy is 27  
> Ben is 14  
> Masie and Andrew (the twins) are 10

Jake’s life had changed drastically in 2013 which is still unknown to this day to his co-workers.

The custody case was a lot more straight forward and definitely a lot easier than other cases that he has seen in his line of duty. Rodger had signed the papers and on the 1st of October 2013 Jake Peralta became the legal guardian of his three younger siblings. Ben had asked a lot of questions that Jake had no idea how to answer in a way a 7-year-old boy would understand. The twins were only two years old and had no idea what was going on. Gina helped Jake with organising the house and packing up his mum’s things and moving them to the study so he would still have a place to go if he ever felt overwhelmed and in need to talk to his mom. Gina also helped Jake answer the hard questions that Ben would fire his way. Jake still had no idea how Gina had delivered Ben the tragic news that night, she was some sort of miracle worker or something Jake had thought to himself. Darlene was his saviour when it came to the twins. She looked after them during the day when Jake went to work and taught him how to look after them at night. One 2-year-old would be hard enough let alone two!

Jake knew he had to work as hard as he could to become a detective. Not only was that his dream… he was in desperate need for the pay raise that came with the promotion.

None of his friends knew about his personal life, but that didn’t mean they weren’t curious. He was often late to work which wasn’t unusual but when he came to work with the faint smell of vomit on his uniform or his hair still messy Amy knew there was something going on. Jake always had a childish and lame answer for Amy’s inquires but she was on the path of becoming a detective as well, she wasn’t going to just let this go.

On the day of the court hearing, Jake had to leave early. He took a shower in the locker room and emerged smelling fresh and in a slick black suit with a black tie.

“Looking good Peralta” Amy had remarked.

“Uh… I- thanks,” he smiled at her and ran his fingers through his hair. He was hoping no one would notice him.

“What’s the occasion?”

“Oh, noth… nothing.” He quickly walked out of the precinct. He didn’t think through his cover plan.

It’s not like he was embarrassed of being the carer for his siblings, he just didn’t want the empathetic looks from his co-workers. He wanted to be able to go into work and be himself, not an older brother, not a dad, just plain old Jake Peralta. He wasn’t as immature as what people at work thought. He had to grow up fast, look after his mom and siblings, being at work was Jake’s safe place, a place where he could be himself and he didn’t want to ruin that.

\-------

7 years later and Jake Peralta had been promoted to detective not long after his mothers death. He had built a reputation for himself throughout the ninety-ninth precinct as the man child of the detective squad. He managed to get Gina a job as the civilian administrator at the precinct as a small way to say thank you for everything she had done for him and his family. The new Captain, Raymond Holt had instantly made a connection with Jake and soon became his own father figure. Jake forever felt bad for never inviting his best friend Charles over to his house, but Charles never pressed for answers, in fact he never mentioned going to Jakes ‘apartment’ (he didn’t know he lived in a house) after Jake turning him down for the first time. Rosa was never a problem keeping his life a secret from. She had secrets and figured he had them too, she didn’t care.

Amy was by far the hardest person to keep in the dark about his home life. He liked her a lot, not just as a work partner, no, romantic stylz. He felt like he could tell her anything, he wanted to tell her everything, but he couldn’t, he couldn’t bear the thought of her looking at him differently. He knew nothing could ever happen between them, romantic stylz and all. She was with Teddy and he had kids, it just wasn’t meant to be…

Jake can keep his mouth shut but Amy is a detective. She knows how to read people; the way Jake talks to Terry about his kids seems like Jake knows more than he’s letting on. But Amy also understands boundaries, if Jake doesn’t want to tell her something, then she respects his decision. 

\---------

One sunny morning Jake strolls into work with coffee in hand. It had been a smooth sailing morning. Ben was in 8th grade and decided to walk to school with his younger siblings who were in 5th grade but their schools where close by. Jake had taught the kids to appreciate life and each other and never ever take anything for granted. Darlene often told Jake how proud his mom would be of him with not only his recent promotion but his dedication to the kids and making sure they know their worth.

Anyone who would walk into the Peralta household would feel the instant warm energy of love. They would have no idea that these kids had had such a traumatic childhood, because Jake had raised them well. They loved each other, the Peralta children had no bad bone in their body, they would do anything for each other, anything.

\-------

Jake and Amy were yet again bickering about the crumbs that had built up on Jakes desk when Holt walked out of his office with his glasses held in both hands.

“Peralta, Santiago, I just got a call. There has been a fire at an elementary school close by that I need the two of you to respond to.”

“Is the fire under control sir?” Amy asked pulling her note book out from her blazer pocket and began taking notes.

“Not at the current moment Santiago.” Amy looked at him confused. “This is a school; this case has to be handled seriously. There are witnesses saying they saw a male around 6 foot enter the building 2 minutes before the fire broke out through the side door which is exclusive for teachers. We believe this is our guy.”

Jake hopped out of his seat and called out to Amy, “I’ll go get the car, get the info off Holt. I’ll meet you out the front.”

Amy did as Jake told her and went into Holt’s office to get the address of the school.

\-------

Jake was waiting around the front of the precinct standing next to the police car. Amy came out running through the doors and leaped into the drivers’ seat.

“HEY!” Jake wined at her, “I was going to drive.”

“Just get in looser,” Amy remarked back.

Amy pulled away from the curb and began driving towards the school.

\-------

Gina had been sitting at her desk when she overheard Holt tell Amy the school that was currently a fire ball. As soon as she heard the school name she shot out of her chair as if she had been electrocuted and ran to her car.

\--------

“So, what school is it?” Jake asked Amy while he looked out of the window aimlessly.

“Oh, it’s just down here, Westwood Elementary.”

Jakes head turned so fast he swears he pulled a muscle in his neck.

“WhAT?!” he shrieked, she has to be joking, surely this is just some sort of prank. “Did you just say...”

“Westwood Elementary? Yeah, yeah I did.” She looks at him confused but mostly concerned, why was he acting to weird? Just as Jake is about to say something back, his phone starts ringing. He looks down at the screen and quickly answers.

“Jake Peralta speaking” Amy had never heard him sound so serious and anxious before. Amy couldn’t hear the person on the other end, so she kept her eyes on the road in front of her. Jake however saw the name that had popped up on his screen, as he listened to the person speaking on the other end of the phone his vision started to go blurry.

“Hi Mr Peralta, it’s the principal of Westwood Elementary here. There is currently a fire that has broken out throughout our school and everyone has been accounted for except for your two kids, Masie and Andrew. It might be best if you make your way down to the school.”

Jake tries to focus on something, anything, he’s no longer taking breaths, he’s frozen up.

“Jake?... Jake?” Amy notices that isn’t moving or talking into the phone.

“I’m on my way sir,” he manages to get out and end the call.

“Jake?” Amy glances over at her partner in the seat next to her. “What’s wrong, Jake?”

Jake doesn’t reply, instead he reaches over to the dashboard and flicks on the sirens.

“Jake!” Amy flicks them back off, “we’re not chasing a perp, there won’t even be much we can do until they get the fire under control…” Jake isn’t listening to Amy, instead he reaches across and flicks the sirens back on.

“I need to get there now.” Amy looks at him.

“Please Ames,” he pleads.

“Alright, alright!” she steps on the gas and they launch forward weaving in and out of traffic but still at a very cautious rate. They rush towards the school… Santiago style.

\----------

Gina manages to get into her car in no time and drive right behind the two detectives. She wasn’t sure if Jake knew what school was currently engulfed in flames but what she did know is that a secret he had been keeping from his entire second family was about to come out in the worst way possible and she needed to be there. When she saw the lights and sirens start on the police vehicle she knew. She knew that Jake Peralta had gone into father mode.

\--------

Fire trucks, sirens, flashing lights and crying students where all a blur when Jake leapt out of the car and ran towards the building. Amy got out of the drivers’ seat and looked over the car to see her partner running towards flames. She jumped over the bonnet and sprinted towards him, leaped forward and tackled him to the ground.

“Amy!” he yelled, she looked at him confused, why was he acting this way? He wriggled loose and ran towards a little girl who looked around the age of ten.

“Masie!” he cried as the engulfed the girl who was covered in soot, Amy assumes that this girl must have been trapped inside and was lucky to escape. Amy was prepared when she was driving towards the school, she knew what she was going into, but what came out of this young girl’s mouth next was something she wasn’t prepared for.

“Dad!” the little girl cried as she ran into Jake’s arms, covering him in soot.

The two of them stood in this embrace for a few more seconds before Jakes head shot up.

“Where’s Andrew?” he says panicked, he looked around frantically and then settled his gaze on Masie.

“He’s… he-” she struggles to get the words out. She doesn’t need to though because seconds later 3 firemen are running out of the building carrying a young boy,

“We found him!” they yell as they rush him towards an ambulance that was standing nearby.

“no…” “no…” “this- this can’t be happening,” Jake says with tears in his eyes. Amy takes a step forward and puts her hand on Jakes shoulder, she has no idea what is going on, but she knows it isn’t good.

“Jake? Jake Peralta?” A loud voice booms out, the man whose voice belongs to comes into view. Amy reads his name tag, _Principal._

“I believe that is-”

The principal never got to finish his sentence before Jake sprinted towards the ambulance and looked down at the young boy covered in burns,

His breath hitched “Andrew.”

“I’m sorry sir, may you please step away?” One of the ambos say to Jake.

“Detective Peralta.” Jake shows his badge but doesn’t take his eyes off Andrew.

“That’s great sir but only family can ride in here with us,” the ambo started to get a bit agitated with Jake, the feeling was mutual.

“I’m his dad,”

“Oh, I’m sorry sir, please, get in.”

Jake forces a smile and gets in the back of the ambulance.

\-------

Gina arrives just as Jake runs over to the ambulance. She gets out of the car and sees Amy standing on the side of the carpark stunned. As soon as she starts to make her way over, Masie notices her and instantly runs towards her, this catches the attention of Amy.

“Aunt Gina!”

“Hey munchkin, you okay?”

“I am, Andrew isn’t though,” her voice breaks at the end of the sentence and she starts crying. Gina tightens her grip on the young girl.

“Gina!!” Another voice cries out. Gina looks towards where to voice is coming from to see Ben in his uniform, tie loosened around his neck, look of worry written all over his face.

“What are you doing here boo?” Gina asks genuinely confused.

“I was in the principal’s office when he got a phone call from the Elementary school saying that their school was on fire and that they couldn’t find the twins, and I… I assumed the worst, so I ran over here.” He speaks so fast that Gina struggles to keep up,

“You ran here?!”

“Yeah it really isn’t far- wait… where is Andrew?” The growing look of worry took over his whole face as he notices his little sister in Gina’s arms, no Jake and no Andrew.

“He’s on the way to the hospital,”

“What- what?!” Ben fell to the ground in tears, this couldn’t be happening, not his brother.

\-----

Amy watched and listened to the scene unfolding before her.

_Masie?_

_Andrew?_

_Ben?_

_Aunt Gina?_

She was trying to piece it all together…

_Dad?_


	3. Who are you?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!
> 
> Sorry I haven't updated in a while, my laptop is so slow and I've been buried under school work all week!  
> I hope you enjoy this chapter... a lot more is definitely to come!!

Amy gets stuck right into the investigation; she figures that Jake won’t be able to work on this case… _Dad?_

She starts by asking teachers and staff if they had seen anything or heard anything.

When she walked around to the back of the school where the original witness saw a man enter the building, she found something very unexpected.

She announced herself as she walked around the corner of the building, it was standard procedure, she wasn’t expecting to see anyone…

“NYPD, hands in the air.” She said, she had her hand lightly resting on her gun which was secured in her holster.

When she turned around the corner, she saw a man emerge from the bushes with his hands held up either side of his head, looking at the ground.

Amy instantly pulled her gun out and trained it on the man,

“Who are you?” she demanded.

\----

Jake was in the back of the ambulance holding back tears. How could he have let this happen? He was meant to keep his kids safe, this… this was not keeping his kids safe.

Laying right in front of him was his best friend, wrapped up in god knows what to keep him safe, safer than what Jake was doing.

He couldn’t even hold his son’s hand; it was covered in blisters and skin that definitely did not look like skin.

He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, he assumed it was Santiago… _oh god, I just left her there, she didn’t know what was going on_ and then Jake remembered something even worse _She knows._

Except it was a message from Gina:

**Gina Linetti Confetti –** I’ve got the kids, stay with Andrew. Luv you boo xx

Jake smiled at his phone, he was so lucky to have a Gina in his life.

\-----

Gina walked towards the principle, she needed to take the kids home, they weren’t in the right head space to be in public right now.

The principle saw her coming and nodded, he knew the Peraltas quite well.

“I’ll call the principle of the Middle school, I’ll let them know you have Ben.”

“Thank you, sir,” Gina replied with a shy smile and ushered the kids towards her car.

\-----

The car ride back to the Peralta household was silent except for the tears that would hit the car seat or seatbelt.

When they arrived home, Gina went into the kitchen to find some eggs. A few minutes later she emerged with two eggs and two pens in hand. Ben looked at her confused. She just smiled back at the two children with tear stained eyes.

“Here are two eggs. When you want to, I want you to write down whatever you’re feeling and then go outside and smash the eggs on the ground.”

The siblings stared at her even more confused

“Just do it, I saw it on Insta, it works so well! Trust me!!”

\-----

“Who are you?” Amy demanded at the man standing in front of her. The man said nothing, yes he had come out of his hiding spot but right now he was not co operating with her. Amy started to get annoyed, her mind flashes back to the look on Jake’s face when the kid emerged out of the building. She had no idea what was going on, but this man had hurt her partner, her best friend, the man she was secretly in lo-, _God Amy, focus!_

“I said, who are you?” Her tone changed, more demanding. She couldn’t get the image of Jake out of her head.

“Ro… Rodger” the man said slowly

“Rodger who?” Amy kept her gun trained on this man

“Rodger Peralta.”

Amy’s breath hitched _, Peralta_?

Amy arrested Rodger and took him to the nearest police car. As she lowered him into the back seat, she looked at the man, she could see a slight resemblance between him and Jake.

“Ma’am?” Rodger asked,

“Yes?”

“My children…” Amy looked at the man confused, what on Earth was going on? Nothing was adding up.

“Your children?” She prompted,

“Are… are they okay?”

“I don’t know who your children are.” Amy felt like she was going to explode, she started to walk away when the man yelled out to her.

“Andrew… I didn’t see Andrew.”

Amy turned to the beat cop, “Take him away,” and walked away to her car.

— --

When the Ambulance gets to the hospital Jake stays next to Andrew for as long as he can, nurses, doctors and staff whom Jake has no idea what their job is, start to yell codes and words that sound like they’re in a completely different language.

The only thing that Jake catches are the words “Smoke inhalation” and “His Lungs”

The paramedics stop him as they take Andrew through to surgery,

“Please, please,” Jake pleaded, he didn’t know what he was pleading for, he just wanted Andrew to be okay.

“We’ll do the best we can Sir,” The nurse said to him.

Jakes thoughts began to take over, he couldn’t stop thinking, the room was spinning, the lights where flickering, the nurse was trying to get his attention, he stumbled across the room before his legs failed him and he fell to the floor.

——

Amy made her way back to the precinct. Her mind was racing with different thoughts. She knew that Jake wouldn’t be able to work this case, not with whatever is going on in his life and the fact that the perp could very possibly be his dad.

“Rosa,” she called out while she was walking towards Holts office.

“Yup?”

“Sit tight,” she demanded. Rosa looked at her confused, yeah, she had seen Amy serious before, but this… this was a whole other type of seriousness.

\-----

When Amy walked into Holts office everything started to become real. She knew that the captain would have questions for what she was about to say, but she didn’t have any answers for him. She was as confused as anyone else.

“Sir, I need to speak to you,” Amy’s voice started to wobble but she quickly gained her composure, this didn’t go unnoticed by Holt.

“Please, take a seat Santiago,” Holt looked towards the now shaking detective. “Where is Peralta?”

“That’s what I am here for sir,” Holt looked at her with an unreadable expression.

“Detective Peralta will not be able to work the case…” She paused for a moment. “He has uh- a family emergency of sorts.” _From what I can figure out._

“Family Emergency?” Holt questioned.

“Yeah, he is currently at the hospital and also um…” she trailed off.

“Detective?”  
“I think our perp for this fire is his dad,” she said quickly. Holt puts his glasses on, hand out stretched.

“Show me the case file.” Amy handed the thin, soon to be very thick (This was a school fire investigation after all) and studied his face. When Holt opened the file up he pauses for a brief moment before nodding his head.

“That, Detective is Rodger Peralta. The man whom left Detective Peralta with years of childhood neglect.”

Amy looks down at her dress shirt and smooths it out. This was going to be an emotional one.

“Since Peralta is unable to continue with the investigation-” Holt interrupts her.

“Take Diaz with you, work together. I do not know what is going on, but this is now your main case.” He says it all without looking up from the photo.

“Thank you, sir.” Amy stands up to leave when Holt speaks again.

“You do not happen to know where Gina is do you?” Holt asks. “She was meant to be back from her lunch break one hour ago, but she never showed up. I need her to send copies to the DA office.”

“She was at the school sir.”

“The school?”

“I have no idea what is going on, but don’t worry, I’m on it.” And with that Amy walked out of Holts office determined to get to the bottom of things.

\-----

Jake sat in the waiting room for what felt like forever, nurses kept walking in and out of the doors, doctors coming out to talk to families. But this was all just a blur. He felt like the one point in the room that was invisible to others while everyone else were going about their normal day. He couldn’t sit still, he needed to get out of there, but he couldn’t, he needed to stay here, he couldn’t leave, Andrew needed him.

\----

Amy walked back into the bullpen after walking around the park, filling Rosa in with the case details.

“We should go interrogate him,” Amy offered.

“No.”

“Why?” Amy turned to see that Rosa had a small tiny tear forming in the corner of her eye.

“Jake is at the hospital, presumably alone. You should go and be with him.”

“I don’t even know why he is there.”

“You don’t need to know, you just need to be there.”

Amy was still looking at Rosa, where was this coming from? Rosa was never this emotional.

“And besides, I should probably go to the school and gather any evidence in case this idiot doesn’t confess.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive,” Rosa looked back up at Amy. “Jake needs you.”


	4. I'll be there for you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I wrote this and am now uploading this during my science class because we're just doing presentations and I've already done mine and i'm very bored, so this is a short chapter but I have big plans coming up!!

“Jake!” Amy exclaimed as she ran into the coffee shop located right next to the hospital. “I went to the hospital and they said you left… are you okay?” She asked all out of breath.

“Just needed to clear my head.” He replied not looking away from the counter where he was getting his coffee. “Thanks,” he forced a smile as he took the coffee from the workers hands and turned around to face Amy.

“I can explain-” he started slowly.

“No, no, you don’t need to explain,” she paused for a moment. “I mean you could tell your partner what on Earth happened back there but it’s fine, you don’t need to talk if you don’t want to. But I mean I’m here if you want to talk, oh and I told Holt you might not be able to do the case with…”

“Ames,” Jake chuckled. “You’re spiralling, I’ll explain everything soon, I just need a friend right now. Also, what do you mean I’m off the case?” 

“Oh…”

“Ames?”

 _God, I hate it when he calls me that, it’s so cute aghhh,_ She thought to herself.

“Jake?”

“What do you mean I’m off the case?”

“Well for starters…”

“For starters?!”

“For starters,” Amy repeated. “You are obviously going to be emotionally involved in this case because of…”

“Andrew.” He says for her,

“Right, Andrew…”

“Amy? You’re never this cryptic when talking about a case with me.” He was confused, she was obviously hiding something.

“I could be jumping to conclusions but just to be sure I need to ask you…”

Jake looked at her on the edge of his metaphorical chair.

“Amy?”

“I think you should see this.”

\----

“We need to interrogate him, I’ve got evidence, just need a confession.” Rosa said as soon as Amy walked into the room, Jake walked out from behind Amy.

“So, who’s the idiot that has done this to Andrew?” Jake says forcefully, it was definitely a good idea to take him off this case.

“Jake? What the hell are you doing here man?” Rosa looked at him confused. “Amy, I don’t think this is a good idea.”

“If he is who we think he is things might start to add up. We need Jake to identify him.” Amy reasoned with Rosa.

“Wait you want me to identify the perp? I didn’t see anyone at the school, I was focused on Andrew.” Jake says very confused.

“Holt already identified him though, wait did you just say Andrew?” Jake nodded his head.

“Andrew?...” Rosa says while thoughts run around in her head. “Andrew,” she says to herself again. “You’re right Santiago, we need Jake to identify him, we still don’t have a motive.”

\----

“Alright munchkins, time to smash some eggs,” Gina announced to the very empty backyard.

“Aunt Gina, do you really think this is going to help?” Ben asked as she walked out into the yard holding an egg covered in words.

“Yeah, dad is going to go crazy when he finds out we wasted eggs,” Masie said quietly.

“I don’t think Jake will be that upset…” Gina paused for a second. “On second thoughts, we’re going to the supermarket after this to get more eggs.” The kids chuckled.

“Alright who wants to go first?” Gina asked.

Silence.

“Okay, I’ll go first. So, all you do is hold your egg up high, yell something out that you’ve been holding in and then smash the egg down at the ground.”

“Okay…” The kids said in unison.

“RIHANNAH HASN’T NOTICED ME, THAT COW!!!” Gina yelled and smashed her egg on the ground.  
“See, I feel 10 times better! You’re next munchkin.” She points to Ben.

“Okay…” He shyly walks up to where Gina was standing.

“i…” he begain quietly.

“Nope!” Gina interrupted him, “You need to yell it, get it all out!”

“Cool cool cool cool.”

Gina rolled her eyes, “You’re just like your brother.”

“And that’s a bad thing?” Ben questioned.

“Not really, but one Jake it enough… GO!!!”

“Alright… I-” he cleared his throat

“I HATE YOU UNIVERSE!!” Ben yelled out and smashed his egg on the ground. “Wow, that, that does make me feel better!” Gina smiled at the boy.

“Your turn girl!”

“I WANT MY BEST FRIEND BACK!!!” Masie screamed and smashed her egg. “By best friend I mean Andrew… wait. Do you think he’s going to go see mum?”

Masie had a way with words, she was destined to be an author. Ben looked at her with tears in his eyes.

“Dad won’t let that happen.”

The siblings hugged and fell to the floor in tears. Gina looked at them and felt a tear forming herself. ‘Dad’ Ben only called him dad when he was scared or very excited, the latter probably isn’t why.

\-----

“Wha… What’s he doing here?!” Jake asked slowly.

“Jake we need you to stay calm,” Jake didn’t listen to Amy.

“I said what is he doing here?” Jake said getting frustrated.

“Look man, Santiago found him at the school, we think…” Rosa doesn’t get to finish her sentence before Jake charges towards the box.

“Son of a b-” he calls out

“JAKE!!!” Amy lunges forward and puts his hands behind his back. “Jake is he your”

Jake finishes her sentence for her, “My father.”

Rosa and Amy exchange a quick look, they knew this case just got a whole lot more complicated.


	5. Wish you were still here

“Interview conducted by Amy Santiago, beginning at 3:03 pm 27th of August 2019.”

“Please state your full name.”

“Rodger Frank Peralta.”

Amy stood in the box with her back towards the one-way mirror. She studied the face of the man sat before her. She needed to get to the bottom of this. Rosa sat in the viewing room; she knew if she went into the box no one would come out alive. She isn’t one for emotions but sitting there watching one of the best detectives she knows interrogate a perp of whom is the father of her best friend and the detective’s partner. This case was going to be one that tugged at those heart strings.

“So… Rodger. Can you please explain to me why I found you in the bushes on the left side of Westwood Elementary School.”

No response, Rodger sat, cuffed to the table, staring off towards the door. Amy shifted her position, so she was in line with his gaze.

“Mr Peralta,” she shuddered at the sound of the name that came out of her mouth, this all felt too wrong. “Can you please state to me your connections to Westwood Elementary School.”

He stayed quiet yet again. His eye twitched and started to form a tear.

“Andrew…” he said quietly, almost at a whisper.

Amy sat down on the chair that was on the other side of the table.

“Who is Andrew?” She quizzed. Finally, they were getting somewhere.

“Is… Is he okay?” Rodger asked fiddling with his fingers, guilt written all over his face.

“Sorry sir, I cannot disclose that information with you.” Technically she wasn’t wrong, but really, she probably could tell him. This man is Jakes father, Jake is torn because this little boy is struggling for his life in hospital, this man keeps asking about him, they all have the last name. Turns out Jake may not be the childish adult they all thought he was.

\----

Amy walked into the viewing room to talk to Rosa, “He won’t budge.”

“I know.” Rosa replied not taking her eyes off Rodger.

“What do we do now?”

“We need to understand what the hell is going on with Peralta.”

Amy raised her eyebrows; did she mean Rodger or Jake? Luckily Rosa caught on and started to elaborate.

“Jake, we need to talk to Jake.”

Amy nodded.

“This is an arson case resulting in serious bodily injury… We need to get a confession out of him.”

\----

The waiting room had cleared out exactly 7 minutes ago. Exactly 5 minutes ago a nurse had walked out to speak to Jake. Now, he was sitting alone in the sterile waiting room reserved for the family of patients in intensive care.

His phone started to vibrate in his pocket, making the row of chairs vibrate along. Jake carefully pulled the phone out of his pocket to see that Gina was calling him. He answered.

“Hey Gines, what’s up?” He lowered his head back so it touched the wall behind him as he waited for a reply.

“Oh nothing boo, I just wanted to let you know that I still have the little munchkins with me and I can look after them for as long as you want.”

Jake sighed; he honestly has no clue what he would do without Gina.

“Thanks so much Gina, I owe you big time!”

“I already knew that boo,”

He smiled at the phone; Gina was always Gina.

“Also, before I go,” Gina added on. “The kids wanna say hi.”

“Put them on,” Jake didn’t realise how much he had been craving their voices. Then it dawned on him. The fact that Andrew was in the ICU did not only affect him, but also his kids, Andrews twin sister, his older brother, it was affecting the whole family.

“Dad!” Masie cried out through the phone.

“Hey there kiddo, how are you holding up?”

“Aunt Gina got us to do this really cool thing where…” Jake heard a shushing sound in the background, presumably from Gina.

“Dad! Oh my god is Andrew okay?” This time it was a different voice, a voice belonging to a scared older brother, the older brother that only called Jake dad in scary or surprising situations. Jake wasn’t dumb, he knew Ben was scared. A tear started to form in his eye.

“The doctors and nurses are taking good care of him. They currently have him in the ICU, they’ll keep me updated and I’ll keep you guys updated too.” He ran his hands through his hair, he had hoped to never sit in this waiting room again, yet here he was.

“Is he going to leave us to go visit mommy?” Masie’s voice broke halfway through the sentence, Aunty Gina had assured her before, but she needed to hear it from her dad.

The sentence that came out of the seven-year-olds mouth was enough to make Jake’s tear ducts flow like never before. He quickly wiped his eyes and composed himself.

“Oh kiddo, the doctors and nurses are doing everything they can. He will be home in no time.”

This seemed to be enough to put Masie’s worries at ease.

“Thanks dad”

“No problem sweetheart, I’ll talk to you later okay?”

“Okay!”

Jake hung up the phone and placed it on the chair next to him. He looked out the window, he didn’t believe in God, but he believed that his mom would always be there guiding him.

“Jake?” A soft voice called out from across the room. He froze, his gaze focusing on the ongoing traffic outside the building. The voice wasn’t from one of the hospital staff, no, the voice was too familiar.

“Ames?”

Amy started to walk towards Jake.

“How did you get in here? This isn’t the general waiting room.”

“I know, I went there first and then they told me you were in here. And here I am.” She smiled at him softly, he stared deep into her brown eyes, there was something sincere about them.

“But they wouldn’t’ve let you back here… you’re not family.” He was confused. When his mother was in here it was hard enough to get Gina into the waiting room.

Amy chuckled and pulled out her badge which made Jake laugh a little too.

“Wow, Santiago. Wait, are you here for the case?”

“No, I’m here just to sit. You can talk if you want, I’ll just listen.”

He smiled at her.

“Thank you.”

\-----

Thirty minutes go by of them sitting in silence. Amy was in the seat next to Jake doing a crossword she had found on her way in. Jake was in the same position staring out of the window, he really wished his mom could be here right now to help him. He had no idea what he was doing.

“The kids.” He started, catching himself off guard. Looks like the secret he had been hiding from the nine-nine was about to truly come out. Amy slowly put the puzzle down and turned to face Jake.

“I mean, I have kids.” He blurted out; his eyes widened in shock. “I mean they’re not my biological kids, I’m their brother, but like… ya know.” Amy studied his face, her warm brown eyes met him which was enough for him to keep going.

“When I was younger my father… Rodger,” He corrected himself. “He was always coming and going, mom let her defences down more than once way too many times and I ended up being the very older brother of three kids.” He looked across to Amy who was still listening.

“In 2013 mom was in a terrible car crash and ended up here.” He gestures to the room around him. “She didn’t make it out of the OR.” Amy’s head jerks in shock, how could she have not known what her partner had gone through.

“A few days after her passing I realised that my siblings no longer had a parent. I was legally an adult and didn’t need a legal guardian, but Ben was only seven, Masie and Andrew where only two, so I decided to become their legal guardian.”

Amy’s face changes when she realises, “So that’s why you were all dressed up and smelt like lemons.”

“You remember that?” Jake askes confused but slightly happy that she would remember something like that.

Amy blushes and tucks her hair behind both of her ears before continuing on, “Yeah, yeah I do.”

Jake looks back out the window.

“And so, for the past 6 years I’ve been their dad.”

Amy goes to say something when a doctor walks out into the waiting room.

“Jake Peralta?” He asks into the empty room that was only seated to Jake and Amy in the corner. Jake stood up and started to walk over to the doctor, Amy not too far behind.

“Please, take a seat.” The doctor instructs to the pair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lil' cliff hanger for you all!!!
> 
> I hope you're all enjoying this story, I'm having so much fun writing it!
> 
> It's going to be a long story so I hope you're all ready for what I have in store!!
> 
> kudos and comments aren't expected but are very appreciated.
> 
> I hope you all have an amazing day!!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if any of the medical stuff is incorrect, lets just pretend it's right for the sake of the story haha!

“Coma?” Jake asked, his voice shaking.

“Yes, we put Andrew in a medically induced coma. The smoke that was inhaled caused severe damage to his lungs; he is having trouble breathing on his own.”

The doctor was sitting on a plastic hospital chair in front of Jake and Amy. He studied their behaviour closely as he let the news unfold.

“So, I assume you’re Andrews mom?” the doctor said carefully.

This question brings Amy back to the present. She jumps apart from where she had been holding onto Jake’s arm and leaning into him, she hadn’t realised the extent of their touching, it all felt so natural.

“Ah- no.. what?” Amy stuttered. “I mean, what?” She couldn’t find proper words. “I’m his work partner, we’re detectives.” _Ahhh there we go Amy, proper English, that’s what the doctor wants to hear,_ she quickly thought to herself.

“Oh, sorry ma’am, only family is allowed back here.” The doctor stated with questioning eyes at the scene that had just unfolded.

“Wha- no…” Jake paused to think. “What are you talking about Ames?” It was Amy’s turn to look confused. Jake turned back to the doctor,

“Amy is Andrew’s mom, we’re not together. We do work together though, that’s what Amy meant,” he looked at the doctors tag. “Dr.Clifford.”

Dr. Clifford looked at the pair, he knew that that wasn’t the truth, but he knew better than to push it. This father needed the support.

\----

“Can we call dad again?” Masie asked for the 15th time in the last hour.

“I’m sure he’ll call us when he gets any news about Andrew,” Gina patted Masie’s head as she sat down.

“I’m going to my room.” Ben said matter-of-factly and proceeded to stalk to his room.

“What’s wrong with him?” Masie asked concerned.

“I don’t know, teenager stuff I guess,” Gina shrugged off.

Masie didn’t agree with Aunt Gina, but she’s only ten, Aunt Gina is older, she would know more.

\-----

“Why’d you say that?” Amy asked concerned. Why would Jake lie and say she was Andrew’s mom. She pauses for a second. _Wait… I was never pregnant right? What if I was but then lost my memory. I never had sex with Jake though… wait did I? No… no… Wha-_

Jake interrupts Amy’s train of thought with his own but out loud.

“I told him you were Andrew’s mom otherwise he would’ve chucked you out.”

Amy looked at him. He was staring out the window like he had been when she arrived.

“I didn’t want you to have to leave, I like your company.”

Amy chuckled, “How are we going to explain to Andrew that the hospital thinks I’m his mom when he wakes up?”

“He might not wake up.” Jake said, still staring out the window.

“Jake,” she said softly. “He is going to wake up.” She moved her hand on top of his and squeezed it gently. He looked up at her and met her eyes.

“Then he’ll laugh and tease me, but I think the kids will really like you.” Jake paused for a moment, Amy looked at him in surprise.

“Yeah, I think they’ll like you as their fake mom.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is kinda short. It was going to be longer but it makes sense this way! Hope you are all enjoying the story!


	7. You Don't Understand Like I Do

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys!
> 
> Long time, no see bahahah! 
> 
> I just want to quickly apologise and explain my absence because I feel so bad for leaving it so long to update you all.  
> These past few months have been crazy for me to say the least. School work quickly piled up and that became my main priority since I'm heading to college next year! I also recently experienced a loss of a beloved peer at my school which was completely unexpected. So it has taken me a while to get back into my writing but I have the next 6 chapters outlined and ready to start working on! I know this chapter is short but bare with me, the next few ones should be much longer, this one is setting up for that!
> 
> Thank you all for reading and following along with this story! It means so much!!
> 
> Happy reading xx

“We need to let him go.” Amy stated as she and Rosa stared into the box.

“What the hell Santiago?!” Rosa was shocked by her partners revelation, “He is the reason why Andrew is in the hospital, a whole goddam school is burnt to the ground! Do you not want justice for these kids, for Jake?!”

“Geeze Rosa. Okay first off Roger is definitely not going to budge with a confession any time soon and we can’t keep him here any longer without charging him.”

“So we charge him.” Rosa said forcefully.

“No.”

“Santiago!” Rosa screamed, was her partner insane?! Of course they should charge this man, why wouldn’t they?

“No, what I mean is I don’t want to charge him with suspicion of arson resulting in bodily harm, it’s not a good enough charge.” Rosa let out a sigh of relief.

“You still want Justice for those kids and Jake, right?” Amy asked with a smile on her face, Rosa nodded mirroring the smile. Amy paused for a second… did she just make Rosa Diaz smile?!

“So what’s the plan?” Rosa asked intently.

“Do you trust me?” Amy questioned.

A photo of Jake, Rosa and Holt all receiving a medal stood out on the pin board behind Amy, Rosa looked at Amy and then at the photo.

“A thousand push ups.”

\----

Amy had no idea what ‘a thousand push ups’ means but she knows it’s something that Jake and Rosa say a lot in times of trust, so she assumes it’s okay.

She turns the corner and walks into Captain Holt’s office where the whole squad is already seated, some standing up the back. She takes her place next to Holt’s desk and starts explaining her plan.

“So, Rosa and I plan on releasing Roger Peralta back into the city, with a warning.”

The room erupts in complaints and raised voices from the squad, Captain Holt at his desk quiet, only his expression had shifted slightly.

“Shut it!” Rosa yells from her seat. “Let Santiago finish what she was saying.”

Amy softly smiles at Rosa and takes a deep breath in.

“Roger is obviously connected to Jake, and Jake is somehow connected to Andrew. Roger isn’t going to give anything up, or explain anything so-”

Terry cuts Amy off.

“So we charge him with suspicion of arson resulting in bodily harm.” Terry states clearly not realising Amy has a better plan.

“Shut up man,” Rosa glares

“Normally I would Sarge, but that’s not a good enough charge, I don’t want to settle with that. I know that there’s more, we can get a confession out of him.”

Amy leans back in her chair and lets out a sigh,

“We need to get a confession out of him.”

\---

“Yo Boyle.”

Terry sat at his desk staring at his computer, he couldn’t stop thinking about Amy. Why would she just drop the case like that, why was she so determined to get a higher charge?!

Boyle – just like Terry – was sitting at his desk smothered in his thoughts, when he heard the Sargent call out his name he snapped back into reality.

“Ah Sarge, yes, how can I help you?”

“What you thinking about?”

“Oh… I gotta say Sarge… Nikolaj is always on my mind.” Charles lied through his teeth. He was really thinking about Jake, his best buddy, surely there’s more to this case than what they know.

Terry looked at Charles before believing the lie, of course he was thinking about Nikolaj, when is he not? Charles quickly perked up, almost as if he could read Terry’s thoughts.

“It’s _Nikolaj._ ”


End file.
